Wednesday, September 30, 2009

This Thursday we are breaking out the Randall again. This week, October 1st, in honor of Falls arrival we will be pouring 512 Pecan Porter through the Randall filled with spiced pumpkin. We will be roasting the pumpkin and seasoning it this evening, to be poured at 7pm tomorrow. Sure to go very quickly.

I just wanted to pass on some additional info about the beers Flying Saucer will be offering on Oct. 24.

Flying Saucer's Fall Beer Festival will feature five beer tasting tents plus a full-pint tent, each with at least four brews chosen by Flying Saucer’s own resident beer guru, Keith Schlabs and Austin Flying Saucer general manager Ted Rowell. Featured beers will include rare special releases and cask-conditioned ales, including Stone Sublimely Self-Righteous Ale and cask-conditioned North Coast Red Seal Ale in the West Coast tent and Avery Dugana IPA, cask-conditioned Breckenridge 471 IPA and Boulevard Smokestack Tank 7 in the UR Not Worthy tent.

The Captain’s Picks tent is scheduled to feature, among others, a brew made by Captain Keith at Sierra Nevada’s recent beer camp. The brew, called Sierra Nevada Edge of Darkness, will be offered in a very limited supply.

This is a shot of Dig Pub's Oktoberfest. The photo is from within my car. Wow, what coverage! Well, I guess I can explain it this way: We had such a good time, I forgot to take any photos of the festivities, until the very last minute. You should go next year.

If you liked this, wait till you see how I report on Fredericksburg's Oktoberfest this weekend. I am guessing a photo of F'burg in my rear view mirror as I drive back to Austin.

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Randall in action at the Flying Saucer tonight. Left Hand Haystack pushed through three pounds of raspberries.

Left Hand Haystack on Raspberries. At first, I was not so impressed with the raspberry flavor. It was clearly a good hefeweizen though. I dumbly never tried it before. But then I took a sip of a Red Seal Pale Ale and went back to the Haystack and BANG RASPBERRY! Maybe they should mix hops and raspberries together in a Randall. Get on it Saucer.

Monday, September 21, 2009

Yet to be named English Blonde Ale flavored with central Texas peaches or Peach Ale

From the brewer.

The beer is essentially a blonde ale with Marris Otter base malt fermented with British ale yeast. It's then flavored after fermentation with a puree of central Texas peaches.

Let's just say this was my least favorite sample sent to me by Jester King. The peaches were definitely present and accounted for. It just was not my thing. It seemed a bit flat to me, flavor, not carbonation-wise.

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

READY FOR DESSERT? Within a day or two of this post, you should be able to go to 2 Amy’s Ice Cream locations in Austin and get a bowl or cone of the NEW (512) Pecan Porter Ice Cream, made with our own (512) Pecan Porter (duh).

Here are the locations where the (512) Pecan Porter Ice Cream will be available:

Forget saying that name. Just forget it. I wrote this about the aroma: Strong hoppy, baby carrots, citrus. I don't remember that. Bitter up front, then sweetness sneaks in. I do remember it having a strong rye flavor, with caramel touches. Some fizziness. Not a quaffer, a sipper. Nice, not my favorite from them so far.

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

I know you are dying to know what I have been drinking lately. Here you go. Daniela brought me back this Mahou from Spain. Before leaving I kept telling her, green can, green can, green can, no red can. The Mahou in a red can sucks. I love the Clasica. It's the perfect macro. You can even drink it right off the shelf, room temp. We did plenty of times.

The Beer Wench brought me this from Tampa. I just asked for a regular IPA and she brought me the souped up version. Very cool of her. It was really good. Went well with Conan's pizza.

Saint Arnold DR8. This is what happens when you drink half a bottle at home and your wife yells that you are late for a dinner party. Try showing up at a dinner party with one of these. Strange looks are only the beginning.

Monday, September 14, 2009

Jester King India Pale Ale or IPA celebrates the wonderful flavor and aromatics of hops, one of the key ingredients in beer. Pouring brilliant orange with a beige head that leaves bountiful rings of lace on the glass, IPA has a fragrant citrus bouquet with notes of grapefruit, pineapple and mango. The delicious hop flavor is complimented by tastes of oven baked bread.

Like I have said before, they need a name for this beer. Every other beer they are developing has some catchy, well thought out name. Not this one. Anyway, it's tasty just the same. Murky. West-coast-style hop forward IPA. Twangs my jowls. Fairly smooth and easy drinking for all it's hop presence.

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Pitch black obsidian with a large tan head that falls glacially leaving remarkable lace. Its nose is a mixture of espresso, bitter chocolate and anise. The silky body embraces flavors of crushed coffee beans, dark chocolate and roasted malt. The hop bitterness is significant, but yields to the hearty malt character. La Danse Macabre pairs well with cheesecake, ice cream, fruit tarts, and cream based soups.

He wasn't lying. This thing was pitch black. Sweet crude. I reached for that anise, but could not find it. Strong boozieness at first, only in the first step. Roastiness from there on out. Flavor and aroma were very good. Maybe a bit thin for a imperial stout.

Friday, September 4, 2009

Finally...the only reason I started this stinking blog....free beer. Seriously though, thanks to Jeff and Jester King for sending along a nice box of samples.

Das Wunderkind!

From the brewer:

Das WUNDERKIND! is an American wheat ale heavily hopped with a blend of Amarillo, Centennial and Simcoe and fermented with a clean, crisp California ale yeast strain. It's a session beer with a fairly low ABV and simple grain bill, but flavorful as all hell with copious amounts of hops late in the boil and dry hops after fermentation. It's delicious with foods such as salads, sushi or vegetable dishes.

Just look at it. That is one pretty beer, no denying. No joke, it is full of hops, a bitter and refreshing wheat ale. Zesty, fruity. This would surely make a great year round beer for the Texas market. This is one I will definitely be picking up. Jeff, get it in stores soon!

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Most of you probably don't know me, but I work for Shelton Brothers Importers, and just moved to Fort Worth from Madison, WI (and Chicago, before that). As most of you are probably aware, the exorbitant licensing fees and unique labeling requirements in TX limit what we're able to bring in to the state, but nonetheless, we are making a few strides. With that, the following are scheduled to hit our distributor's warehouse sometime in the next several days:

These are all being distributed statewide by Mexcor, who seems pretty serious about jumping into the craft beer business.

For detailed information on any of the beers, please visit our site at www.sheltonbrothers.com.

On the next order, which we hope will follow quickly, we'll also be looking to add some kegs, and then we'll be introducing a few more beers, including the various holiday beers from these breweries, over the course of the next several months. Eventually, we hope to add a few more breweries from our portfolio, as well, but first we need to be reasonably sure that the combination of the interest level in the market and the availability of the beers in question is going to justify the annual cost.